Charter commissioners ponder enhanced powers for selectmen

The nine members of the Charter Commission have begun to explore a radically simplified structure that would place executive powers firmly in the hands of an elected Board of Selectmen, which, together with the School Committee and the town moderator, would be the only elected officials in town. All other boards—with the exception of the Finance Committee and Capital Planning and Investment Committee (CPIC)—would be appointed by the selectmen. FinCom and the at-large members of CPIC would be appointed by the town moderator.

This new design began as a “what-if” question posed by commission Chairman Paul Cohen earlier this month, but has gained support among the commissioners as they have debated and tested its viability. “If someone asked me what the hell we are doing,” said commissioner Ron Ostberg at a meeting of the commission Thursday, Dec. 15, “I would say that we have seen that [to solve the problems that have been identified at the commission’s public forums], the selectmen have to act in an executive manner in three areas”:

• personnel; that is, the hiring of staff and the recruiting of volunteers to fill town committee positions
• policy; that is, setting policies and goals, and charging committees so both will be realized
• management and coordination; that is, overseeing the work of town staff and committees, bringing them together when projects require their collaboration

As of last week, commissioners had already produced a draft preamble (see below) and revised article to document the changes they envision. The dramatic changes they contemplate are spelled out in Article 3 of the current draft charter. Article 3 states that the three elected town offices will be those of town moderator, the five-member Board of Selectmen, and the five-member School Committee. All other volunteer boards and committees would be appointed by either the selectmen or town moderator.

The selectmen are designated the “chief executive office of the town” and have all of the executive powers a board of selectmen is expected to have, except for those assigned to the town administrator. The section of the draft (Section 3-2) that spells out the duties of the selectmen differs from earlier versions in adding three new responsibilities and making the board responsible for appointing every town committee except FinCom and CPIC (for details, see sidebar “Charter of the town of Harvard: Composition, power, and duties of the Board of Selectmen”). Two potentially far-reaching new duties call for the selectmen to become drivers of the town’s Master Plan and its implementation, and to further the civility goals and values set forth in the preamble.

Town meeting would remain Havard’s legislative body, but because the town moderator, its presiding officer, would continue to appoint FinCom members and assume responsibility for appointing CPIC at-large members, the charter, Cohen has noted, ensures that those committees would be empowered to act independently on behalf of the town’s citizens, not as creatures of the selectmen or town administrator. In a later email exchange, Cohen, who is Chelmsford’s town manager, said he believed the proposed structure is unique. Unlike a city form of government, the commission’s proposals would concentrate executive power in an elected board rather than an elected mayor. And whereas in a city citizens are represented by an elected city council, Harvard would retain its direct democracy through town meeting. By appointing almost all of its boards, however, Harvard’s structure would resemble the form of government typically adopted by cities such as nearby Leominster.

The commissioners hope that by dramatically reducing the number of elected offices, races for Board of Selectmen and School Committee seats would become more competitive. By eliminating the need to campaign for seats on the remaining boards, commissioners hope it might become easier to recruit volunteers for those positions. One commissioner has gone so far as to suggest that the annual Town Caucus be eliminated, requiring any citizen who wished to run for office to simply file nomination papers with the town clerk.

Setting goals, reporting results

Making the selectmen responsible for setting and achieving town goals establishes clear lines of accountability, which could be further enhanced by requiring that the selectmen deliver a state of the town report at annual town meeting, reporting their progress and that of town boards against stated goals, an idea Cohen and other commissioners have endorsed. And by bringing every board except School Committee under the selectmen’s management umbrella, the charter would empower the board to resolve differences between town committees that are used to operating in a highly independent manner.

“You wouldn’t be dissolving the other committees,” said Cohen at last week’s meeting. “The selectmen wouldn’t assume the responsibilities of the Planning Board, of the Library Trustees. How could they? They don’t have the [capability] to do that.” Committees such as the Planning Board and Conservation Commission would retain the statutory responsibilities assigned them by the state.

“The goal [has been] to try to pull together what we heard from the community, which was [a desire for] clear lines of authority, accountability, transparency,” said Cohen.

Turning a screw, making ripples

Much work remains, including presentation of the commission’s latest thinking to the public. “We’re turning one screw, and we’re thinking that it’s going to ripple through the system,” said Ostberg last Thursday. “I think it’s a brilliant stroke. I think we’ve convinced ourselves. What we really need to be able to do is articulate it in such a manner as to get other people to believe.”

The commission won’t meet again until January, when members hope to review additional changes to their working draft, including a provision for the recall of elected board members. Still to come is specification of the authority and duties of the town administrator, as well as each of the appointed committees. No votes have been taken on any elements of the draft charter, but the commissioners have been able to make progress by consensus. State law requires the commission to deliver a preliminary report to the town by Aug. 14, 2017, and hold one or more hearings on its content. A final report is due to the selectmen, the state Department of Housing and Community Development, and the state attorney general by Oct. 12, 2017. Once the proposed charter is approved by the state, it will be up to voters to approve it at the ballot box before sending it on to the Massachusetts Legislature for final approval.